Check out the progress of our new Sons of Italy Lodge #902 in Methuen, Massachusetts. Four polyurethane courts on the way.

This from Armand Buonanno...

"Next week the cultured stone in the front should be finished and they should start placing the hardy plank on the sides and back. Within the next few weeks a binder coat will be applied around the building. Of course the plumbing, heating/ac, and electric is being worked on.

We are on schedule for an occupancy permit in November. DaVinci Bocce from Michigan will be installing the courts in November and they should be done in 2-3 weeks. Once we have an occupancy permit we will file for our club liquor license with the city.

Check our Methuen Sons of Italy facebook page for updates and more pictures."

The Sons of Italy Lodge 902 is offering two tournaments for charity. See Tourney section below. One is October 6th benefiting Special Olympics and the other is October 20th benefiting the American Cancer Society. These will be two great days of bocce while helping out two great causes.

I'm playing around again with laser measuring....we know we can't reliably bounce lasers off round surfaces so I made a metal l shaped bracket to bounce the beam off. Have you toyed with thus? What laser do you use? and how are you targeting the balls, etc, etc."

"Mario you do a great job love your newsletters every week. But,I still have one big complaint - can't understand why people call the game of BOCCE (BOCCE BALL) I would love to have someone call the game of bowling (BOWLING BALL) it won't happen. Please print the fact that the game is BOCCE BOCCE BOCCE NOT BOCCE BALL. Thank you and keep up the great work you do, you're my HERO. YOUR friend George (PUNTA GORDA BOCCE CLUB PUNTA GORDA, FLORIDA)."

"I am the Tournament Director of the All Star Bocce Classic Tournament held at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, Nevada. This year's tournament date is November 8-11, 2012.

If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive an invitation, Call 1-800-648-6992, extension 77016 or via email - dshores@peppermillreno.com. For any additional information call the number listed and ask for Dana Shores.

We should all be card carrying members. Every club should be affiliated. For the sport to gain the attention it needs we need to boast of many thousands of members. Download a USBF Membership Application here:

Choose the Clubhawk Gold, Henselite Bowls, or Premier Boule Measure. You can't go wrong with any of the three choices. Once a bocce aficionado has a set of bocce balls and my book, the next logical acquisition is a first-rate measure.

Each retails for $26.95 plus $6.00 shipping and will be shipped US Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope.

Please - anyone running a tournament - do me a favor - put a notice near your tourney bracket board informing players that they can go to http://www.joyofbocce.com and "opt in" for my FREE Ezine on bocce. Click the logo to the right to opt in if you do not already receive this ezine every Monday.

Please consider designating someone as "official event photographer" and directing that person to send snapshots for us to reproduce as photos of the week. Our readers love seeing bocce action from around the continent.

October 13, 2012 - {9:00 AM Start} Vermont - Burlington. This tournament is open to anyone who has placed first in a singles or doubles championship on BBC's courts during the 2012 season. October 14 rain date. Contact Zander Ponzo @ zponzo@uvm.edu .

Check out the first-rate equipment we offer. The finest measuring devices for bocce (made in UK by Prohawk for lawn bowling, petanque, and bocce) - the finest bocce balls in the world (made in Italy by Perfetta) and the number one selling instructional book on bocce in America - Check them out.Check out the merchandise